(Welcome to Road to Endgame, where we revisit all 22 movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and ask, “How did we get here?” In this edition: Captain America: The First Avenger attempts to establish Marvel’s moral compass.)

Steve Rogers is the moral center of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a dynamic that holds true even for films he doesn’t appear in. Broken down to his basics, he’s the benchmark for righteousness in an ever-shifting political landscape, even when that righteousness is called into question. This has been his role in the comics for most of the 21st century, making him a vital addition to a film series so steeped in post-9/11 military parallels.

Captain America’s movie origin, like that of his 1940 comic book counterpart, begins during World War II. It’s an arguably more black-and-white setting compared to the complexities of modern geopolitics — the kind of complexities the Iron Man films try (and often fail) to capture — providing both the Star Spangled Manand the larger Marvel Universe a framework for their outlook on heroism.

That said, while Steve Rogers, the man in isolation, is a beacon of goodness, Captain America, the symbol within a larger narrative context, falls victim to Marvel’s penchant for diluted ideology.

This year, Marvel Comics is celebrating their 80th anniversary, and in honor of that milestone, they’re releasing some figures of characters who you might not have expected to ever see available to display on your collectibles shelf. They include fan favorite characters like Korg and The Grandmaster from Thor: Ragnarok, Luis from Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Peggy Carter from Captain America: The First Avenger. Get a look at all of the new 2019 Marvel Legends figures from the MCU below. Read More »

We all know Marvel Studios is currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while Avengers: Infinity War was one hell of a way to celebrate the unprecedented crossover of all these film franchises, the comic book movie studio has another treat for fans to enjoy this year.

Marvel Studios has announced that all 20 of their movies, from Iron Man to this year’s Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp, will return to IMAX screens for a limited run at the end of August through the first week of September. But there’s a specific schedule for the movies that will make it rather difficult for even the most hardcore Marvel fan to see all of them. Find out more below. Read More »

(Welcome to Road to Infinity War, a new series where we revisit the first 18 movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and ask “How did we get here?” In this edition: Captain America: The First Avenger offers Marvel Studios a proper moral compass.)

Steve Rogers is the heart and soul of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whether we’re watching his solo outings, his Avengers team-ups, or a combination of the two (like Captain America:Civil War), he’s interwoven with the moral fabric of this fictional world; a dynamic that arguably holds true even for films in which he doesn’t appear. Broken down to his basics, he’s the benchmark for righteousness in an ever-changing political landscape, even when said righteousness is called into question. This has been his role in the comics for the better part of this century, making him a vital addition to their filmic equivalent – a series steeped in real world post-9/11 military conflict right from the get-go.

Captain America’s first big adventure, much like his 1941 comicbook origin, takes place during World War II. It’s an arguably more black-and-white setting compared to the complexities of contemporary geopolitics – the kind of complexities the Iron Man films try (and occasionally fail) to capture – but this backdrop provides both Steve Rogers and the larger Marvel Universe a framework within which to position their outlook on heroism.

Sometimes heroism means fighting on the front lines, like in Captain America: The First Avenger. Sometimes it means lurking in the shadows, like in Avengers: Infinity War. Whatever the case, the answers are never easy and price of freedom is high, but it’s a price the Star Spangled Man is willing to pay.

This past weekend saw the release of Marvel’s Black Panther and the debut of Michael B. Jordan’s striking new villain. So you know what that means: it’s time to update our Marvel villain ranking.

If you’re still reading, there are two things to keep in mind regarding this particularly ranking of Marvel’s bad guys. One, I’m judging them all based on Personality and Plan Points. How magnetic are they? How stupid is their plan for world domination (or whatever else they’re seeking)?

Two, Thanos isn’t on it because he doesn’t count. He’s not a villain; he’s a Postmates customer with the munchies. I’m sure we’re all looking forward to Infinity War, when he can legitimately join this list.

It’s hard to keep up with all the new Funko POP figures being released every month. There’s always a new movie or TV show getting a new line of the deformed but adorable collectible figures, and now one man will see multiple versions of himself turned into a new line of Funko POP figures from the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee has already been given several different iterations of Funko POP figures, but we’ve yet to see any of the cameo characters he plays in Marvel Studios movies brought to life. But that will change in November when three new Stan Lee Funko POP figures hit shelves. Check them out below. Read More »

It’s become a tradition at this point: whenever a new entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is released, everyone ranks the movies. And now that everyone on the /Film staff has had a chance to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and spend a few days digesting it, it’s time to completely refresh our list.

We invited the site’s core staff as well as our various contributors to rank all 15 movies in the MCU, with each movie earning points based on its placement in each list. This resulted in a ranked list that reflects the site as a whole rather than the opinion of Just One Person. So here it is: the world’s most accurate ranking of Marvel Studios’ output.

Greetings, true believers. There’s yet another Marvel Cinematic Universe film tearing up the box office –Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. As with all MCU films, there’s world-building, in-jokes, action, adventure, and of course, the prerequisite Stan Lee cameo. For more than 40 years now, Lee has been the most recognizable public face for Marvel properties, even the ones he had nothing directly to do with. Much like the Marvel post-credit sequence, a cameo from Lee is expected from fans; fans who will inevitably lean over to their theater mates and loudly whisper, “That’s Stan Lee!” when the moment arises.

Because I’m committed to doing world-changing, issue-driven film writing, I’ve decided to rank every single Stan Lee cameo to date from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For the sake of brevity I’ll only be dealing with the MCU films, and not the wealth of other Marvel-related films and TV projects, all of which Lee appears in one form or another. Excelsior!

In less than a decade, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has gone from an ambitious pipe dream to an inescapable box-office juggernaut. Now, as Doctor Strange kicks off the first major new sub-franchise of Phase Three, we wanted to take a look back at the fourteen films released so far. Which soared? Which fell flat on their faces? After the jump, get our rundown of all fourteen films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe ranked.